Din

***On Up, the fourth and fullest offering from D.I.N., the Los Angeles outfit has effortlessly navigated a path of paradox. JOSIE VAND's feathery vocal contrasts with GREG VAND's persistent electronics, falling in and out of harmony with coy leads and unceasing rhythm. Nothing is hidden here beneath reverb and chicanery; sounds are clear and precise, forcing the listener to confront the splendor and mystery of dry electricity. Syncopated percussion drives beneath floating melodies, threatening discord while drawing us toward something wistful, sweet and earnest. On “Something,” a playful synth lead welcomes before its menacing partner joins in lower register; at first we feel undermined, but in fact the space has been transmuted—it now points forward. The titular track is the most direct invitation to this new city, where light refracts through strange architecture. Fluttering harmonies point unhurriedly ahead beneath Josie’s delicate singsong. The record itself is a beckoning, and one can only accept. Rigorous adherence to the palette of hardware might suggest pastiche, but here D.I.N. sidesteps a pitfall of so many contemporaries: D.I.N. plays with the past without aping it. It is through this intermingling that Up becomes a record not only about the experience of living now, but about the common experience of living always.